A Tale of The Tape HPA vs 21st Century Flood and Drain

Quick update: 4/6 are males., so the seed inspection method is not 100%.

My F & D continues to blow away my hpa to the point I think something is wrong in there. I'm guessing it's coverage, so I went from 2 dual head misters to 3 single heads. It may be too late to make any huge improvements to the plants themselves, but it will be interesting to see whether this makes a discernible difference: it should.

FYI, all the holes are taped from the outside.

Here's a pic of the heads, which are now aiming ~ 25^s up, which should help swirl nutes around the pod.

IMG_0961.jpg

Finally dry nutes formulated for mj, available in USA!

Came across this on another RIU thread They have the NPK ratios I am looking for. I 'think' someone there compared to Dynagro, and preferred thesehttp://www.hydroponic-research.com/feeding.html

Hey Pet............So the seed inspection method is a no-go/ bummer.........I think your mister selection/layout is a wise choice(is their a reason you couldn't use 4 single heads?? pump issues?).....what is your spray schedule(intervals) at now??........I had a feeling the FD would be superior due to it's simplicity and almost comparable growth rates(aeration/root saturation cycles )................anyways happy (stress-free) growing...

Hey.

I added the 3rd position yesterday afternoon. Keep in mind the hpa roots were not getting 360^ coverage whereas the F & D were/are. So it is not fair to judge one against the other, BUT, I expect that the hpa will begin to take off. This morning they were quite perky, better than with 2 @ 2 heads!

The reason I went with 3 heads is I simply added a 3rd head 'T'ing off the other 2 lines that were already there. I think this method balances the pressure to all 3. Thinking further on this, the 3rd head (the one in the middle of the long side) could be a dual head to provide max coverage. Decisions decisions. I may play with this later today.

If I went with one incoming line (instead of two - one to each short side) then I could place 4 heads, but might lose pressure to the 4th (farthest) head. Also it has to do with number of plants and their location on the lid/table. I plan to replace this R & D tote now that I have a better understanding of max adult plants in this size (~33G) is probably 3. This one I set up for 4 plants, but I think 3 is max to get good nute circulation. Also the holes in the side walls were experiments for mist head placement: higher is better, but not too high.I have taped over them as they were leaking light.

Assuming my hpa begins to show positive signs that I am finally on the right track, then I will consider replacing this tote and giving it one more shot with some clones. After all I have invested several years of experimenting, and this seems like the last thing I can do without resorting to adding an accumulator set up.

Originally Posted by PetFlora

Finally dry nutes formulated for mj, available in USA!

Came across this on another RIU thread They have the NPK ratios I am looking for. I 'think' someone there compared to Dynagro, and preferred these http://www.hydroponic-research.com/feeding.html

Interesting, thanks for the heads up...

OK, let's do this.

I took this photo 3 hours ago. As you can see the F & D is ginormous by comparison.

I went ahead and added the dual head in the middle, meaning excellent coverage now. I will have to dial up pause to compensate for more misting; currently at 2:30.

That aside, it will be interesting to see how far hpa can catch up.

hpa pic on the left is 2 plants, one behind the other. Combined they do not equal the bushiness of the one in front in my 21st Century F & D. You can barely see the one behind, although it is some 4" taller

Attachment 2167065

Originally Posted by PetFlora

OK, let's do this.

I took this photo 3 hours ago. As you can see the F & D is ginormous by comparison.

I went ahead and added the dual head in the middle, meaning excellent coverage now. I will have to dial up pause to compensate for more misting; currently at 2:30.

That aside, it will be interesting to see how far hpa can catch up.

hpa pic on the left is 2 plants, one behind the other. Combined they do not equal the bushiness of the one in front in my 21st Century F & D. You can barely see the one behind, although it is some 4" taller

Attachment 2167065

Can't seem to view it? I find using the picture link button on top of the reply box works consistently. Yay- the like button is back, lol...

lol the like button is back!!